Manchester Orchestra Comes to Houston

Photo by Loma Vista Recordings

The Show

The Atlanta native Manchester Orchestra is making another comeback to the Lone Star State!  This time around they’re making a trip to the House of Blues Houston on this Tuesday, Nov. 27th. Make sure to get your tickets here!  Manchester Orchestra recently had a few shows in Austin in conjunction with their performances at the Austin City Limits Festival back in October. However, if Austin was a few hours too far for you then don’t worry, the group is giving Texas another go. They’re also touring with the band, The Front Bottoms, making this a show you really can’t miss. But why should you see them? Well, the members of Manchester Orchestra are extraordinary and versatile artists that just keep on giving. You have Andy Hull on guitar and vocals, Robert McDowell on lead guitar, Andy Price serving bass guitar, and Tim Very pounding the beat of your heart on drums. Manchester Orchestra has mastered and created a space in which they have their own unique indie alternative/rock sound. The combination of their instrumentation, their vocals, their lyricism, and their musicality, work together to elicit such a pure and genuine sound that forces you to feel everything that they’re putting out. In order to get a better feeling of what I’m talking about, take a look at their performance of their song, “The Gold.”

The Music

Now you may be wondering, what you would be listening to at this concert. In this tour, along with some classic oldies, such as “Simple Math” and “I Can Barely Breathe”, the band will mainly be playing songs off their newest record that came out last July, A Black Mile to the Surface. If you are interested at all in the production aspect of an album, then you’re in luck.  Since the release of the album, Manchester Orchestra has been uploading videos onto their YouTube channel about the musical journey in making the album. The unique videos are both separate, stand-alone recordings and have also been added to a longer documentary. The viewer gets a closer look at the band’s musicianship in terms of their composition and the arrangement of their works. A year after the release of A Black Mile to the Surface, Manchester Orchestra let out the EP The Black Mile Demos. The record is such a work of art. It’s literally just raw vocals, a microphone, and a guitar; giving the listener such an intimate experience that it sort of feels like they’re listening in on a private conversation. The demo’s release and the video series allow the viewer to watch and truly absorb the processes that go into the stripped skeleton version of a piece and to that of a full production. The media give the listener a unique experience to feel hyper-connected to the band and their music. 

Lastly, it wouldn’t be a true introduction to Manchester Orchestra without acknowledging their sick musical cover skills. This time, I’ll leave you with a haunting rendition of No Doubt’s hit song “Don’t Speak”, some call this version an accurate expression of the way that Gwen truly felt. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

See you at the concert!